- AT&T Blackout of employee holidays
- Shipping slips reportedly showing that Apple has large stocks of something being shipped to their distribution channels
- Steve Jobs airplane expense increasing dramatically (ie. flights overseas to iPhone partners/distribution channels)
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Misc. iPhone News Heard 'Round the Web
Forbes is reporting in an online article that Apple already has the 3G iPhone in limited circulation. They are making their educated guess on rumors of the following information:
iPhone Coming to Hong Kong, Macau via Hutchison
Executives from Hutchison Telecom Limited reported that they are bringing the iPhone to Hong Kong and Macau via the "3" brand. The "3" brand reportedly emphasizes mobile multimedia and 3G capabilities.
Although talks have been rumored with China Mobile, nothing as of yet has been announced.
Griffin in Process of Making Next-Gen iPhone Cases?
Our friends over at Appleinsider are reporting that case maker Griffin is already in the process of manufacturing cases for the next-generation iPhone. They say that an insider known as iDealsChinaInsider has taken photos of the molds needed to case said case...
Of interesting note, the case molds seem to indicate that the iPhones back will be more round in shape (as reported in the past) and that there may be room in front of the phone for the highly-anticipated front-side camera...Well, like i've stated these past few weeks, we've only got a while more till we all know the truth...hang on!
Nordic & Baltic Markets to get iPhone via TeliaSonera
Today, TeliaSonera announced that it would be bringing the iPhone to Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia this year. And although Spain, Russia and Turkey are in their service area, they were not included in the deal.
I don't know about you, but if I were Research in Motion (makers of the BlackBerry), I'd be a little afraid and more so, I'd be preparing for the coming onslaught of the iPhones by trying to put together some kind of iPhone equivalent. The rumor mill suggest that BlackBerry is preparing their own version of touch BlackBerry.
3G iPhone to use Evolved HSPA?
Reports from the field are pointing to the fact that the new iPhone will be able to tap into newly/soon to be available "Evolved HSPA." For those outside the industry, in a nutshell, this means that Apple's new device will be capable of downloading content at 42Mbps.
Why is this important you ask? Well, the general consensus in the rumor mill is that Apple is planning to add video conferencing ability to it's widely popular iPhone. Further supporting these rumors is the fact that Telstra executives are claiming that Australia will have the fastest iPhone in the world (by Dec. 2008)...further pointing to the fact that "Evolved HSPA" will in fact be used.
Exciting news indeed...16 more days to go!
Geo-tagging to be added to iPhone 2.0 software?
Insiders who are familiar with the software development process of the next generation 3G iPhone report that geo-tagging will be a much welcomed addition. Geo-tagging for those who are not familiar is the ability to add the location to the photo that was taken. For instance, if you take a photo at San Francisco, the iPhone will be able to add the coordinates of the photo in the meta data of the picture.
In any case, this is a feature most likely used by a lot of social networking mobile websites and is also a good feature for those of us who want to remember where a certain picture was taken.
More Confirmation of the 3G iPhone
We already know that its coming in June, now our friends over at AppleInsider and Gizmodo both report that the 3G iPhone will be launching for certain on June 9th, the same day at Steve Job's Keynote at the WorldWide Developers Conference.
In some other more surprising news it seems that the new iPhone will NOT follow Apple's fixed pricing model. In effect, if true, this means customers may be able to get the phone at a discounted price or as some other promotional offer.
Things are really heating up as we get nearer to the WWDC, personally, the next 30 days will be tough for me...
France Telecom's Subsidiary Orange to Extend Reach of iPhone
Today Orange announced that it would be selling iPhones in Middle East, Africa and the Caribbean. A statement from Orange read, "Orange today announced a new agreement with Apple to bring the iPhone to Orange customers in Austria, Belgium, the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Jordan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Switzerland and Orange's African markets later this year."
Curiously missing from all this news recently is announcement of an iPhone carrier in Spain. I'm pretty sure we'll be hearing something in the very near future....i'll keep you posted!
Intel Exec Mixed About Atom-Based iPhone Coming
Yesterday, Intel Germany chief Hannes Schwaderer let it slip that Apple will be releasing an Atom-based iPhone device in the near future. Then in an awkward move, he later denied saying anything of the sort and was instead referring to a general class of devices called Mobile Internet Devices (MID).
Well, all in due time my friend, all in due time...if however this rumor does turn out to be true, things might not be so rosy for our friend in Germany...I'm counting down the days...
AT&T Plans to Rev 3G Network Up to 20 Megabits by 2009
Today, AT&T announced that by 2009, their 3G network speeds would be increased by almost fivefold to approximately 20 megabits.
At the Morgan Stanley's annual Communications Conference, Ralph de la Vega said engineers already have a 3G network up and running in the labs at speeds of 7.2 megabits per second, or approximately double the theoretical throughput of its existing network.
He also added, that his firm has "a clear and logical path" to 700MHz 4G access via the Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard in the 2010 timeframe which should again increase speeds fivefold to nearly 100 megabits per second.
This is great news for the ucoming iPhone version 2.0 and also the Blackberry 9000 (announced yesterday) and is similarly slated to be released on the AT&T network.
1st Gen. iPhone No Longer Available Online
In a somewhat uncharacteristic move, Apple yesterday admitted to being out of stock online in the U.S. and U.K. websites. There were numerous reports that indeed stock was running low, however, Apple did say that the phones would be still be available at Apple stores and AT&T stores.
The just announced shortage brings about more speculation as to when the next generation iPhone might be announced. Rumors and speculation are pointing to June 9th as the release date...However, iPhoneNewsBlog staff feel that from now till the 9th is a loooong time for Apple not to be selling iPhones. What this means to their projected goal of 10 million phones in one year we don't know, but they've reiterated it several times and seem very focused they will be able to do it...
Did AT&T Slip? iPhone Black Spotted on AT&Ts website
Anonymous tipsters have alerted staff at the iPhoneNewsBlog that a listing for a iPhone Black is now listed on its website. Strangely enough the slip is only shown when existing AT&T iPhone customers log in to their account and try to choose their iPhone.
The general consensus seems to be that instead of a chrome plated cover, the new iPhones will have a glossy black back. Its only a matter of time till we see what will really happen...Stay tuned for all the breaking news!
AT&T iPhone Plans Include Free Access to Starbucks WiFi Hotspots
Although recently rolled out and then recalled just a few days later, it seems that AT&T has now officially listed free WiFi access at Starbucks as part of the included features on all iPhone rate plans.
From the AT&T website, "Plans start at $59.99 and include Visual Voicemail, Unlimited Data (email and web), 200 SMS text messages and access to AT&T's more than 17,000 Wi-Fi hotspots, including Starbucks* all for use in the U.S. *Wi-Fi available at U.S. company operated Starbucks locations equipped with a hotspot."
Our take? This is great news and with the upcoming 3G iPhone, we are in for a treat. Keep watching the iPhoneNewsBlog.com for more information.
iPhone SDK Beta 5 Released
Apple released the fifth public beta of its software developer kit for the iPhone and iPod touch on Wednesday. The new SDK includes bug fixes and adds support for the latest iPhone OS.
According to Apple's iPhone Developer Center Web page, the "fifth beta version of the iPhone SDK includes Xcode IDE, iPhone simulator with Open GL ES support, Interface Builder, Instruments, frameworks and samples, compilers, and Shark analysis tool."
Both Vodafone & Telecom Italia
Today in a somewhat surprising move, Apple today announced that it has selected Vodafone and Telecom Italia to distribute its 2nd generation iPhone in Italy. Speaking on the subject, "An Apple spokesman declined to comment on the apparent shift in strategy of having two, rather than only one, operator in each market.
"Today's news is about the iPhone coming to ten new countries later this year," he said. "Our goal is to sell 10 million iPhones this year."
Italy is one of the most attractive mobile phone markets in the world, though Italians overwhelmingly choose pre-paid plans as opposed to contracts. At Vodafone, for instance, 91% of its Italian customers don't have contracts.
In the U.K. and Germany, prices have been cut on the iPhones as Apple struggles to win over European customers who are reluctant to spend for the touch-screen device when they can get aggressively-subsidized phones from rivals.
UK's O2 Preparing for 3G iPhone Launch
In what looks like preparation for the 3G iPhone launch, Apple iPhone partner in the UK has almost completely sold out of first generation iPhones an also has reached the 80% penetration point of being able to provide 3G services to about 80% of the UK.
The next few months are looking to be really exciting for those of you who have been anxiously awaiting the arrival of a 3G version of the iPhone.
Rumor: AT&T to Subsidize iPhone 2.0?
The latest rumor going around the Internet is that for the upcoming iPhone 2.0, AT&T is planning to subsidize some of the hardware costs. In other words, in an effort to increase market share and further its relationship with Apple, AT&T will be selling the iPhone for $199.
Please note that this is NOT a guess or prediction on my part, but rather just a summary of what i've read online...Remember, none of this is official and will probably never be verified...so, we'll just all have to till June...I for one, can't wait
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